City/town on the coast

[SapphireStrange]

I fancy a city/town holiday in Europe, for probably ten days, some time this summer.

Criteria:

• on the coast ( won't have a car, so am not really looking for places that are an 'x-minute drive to a beach')

• having said that... , am not averse to somewhere from where we can get to some nice countryside/mountains/etc for a day trip.

• a bit of culture – some art galleries and stuff

• a cafe/hanging-out culture –nice places for coffee/cake/food/books etc; a place with a buzz about it

• pretty/scenic (I quite fancy, for example, Aveiro in Portugal because of pics like this):

Any advice/experiences very gratefully received!

Porto
Lisbon

Lisbon or Barcelona will do nicely for you

Thanks folks. I keep hearing nice things about Lisbon and Porto.

Been to Barcelona and it's a nice city but I found it a little unfriendly (TBF I don't speak Catalan and have only the tiniest bit of 'restaurant' Spanish, which may not help). Also someone tried to pickpocket me within about five minutes of my arriving.

We love Nice.. So lovely to amble around cobbled streets. The beach is stony but the sea is a stunning blue.. The bus system is great and you can go to so many lovely places.. Villefranche, Cannes, Monaco etc. The scenery is beautiful

Hadn't even thought about south of France. Interesting...

Genoa

Valletta, Malta?

Yes to Nice, Lisbon and Porto

Or stay in cascais for the beach and have a day in Lisbon - about half an hour by train

Sounds like a nice idea. Is Cascais a 'proper' town, though, IYSWIM, or more of a resort?

Dubrovnik or Split - you can travel to islands by ferry.

Ooh, I've never been to that part of Europe. That's quite appealing.

It's a proper town and very handy for Lisbon and lots of architecture, museums etc

Sound fab. Thank you all! Lots of good ideas here.

Sounds obviously!

Palma is beautiful

Le touquet

Le touquet! I'd forgotten about that but it has been a vague idea of mine for years, as has Deauville.

I have a romantic notion of strolling around with an icecream/eating moules/gazing out to sea in the slightly cloudy but picturesque weather, looking effortlessly chic Catherine Deneuve-style.

San Sebastien
Valencia (not been but think it fits the bill)
Palermo

Valencia! We're off there again next week. Also I agree with Nice, and can day trip to Monaco.